Cork SHC Final

IMOKILLY 4-19 MIDLETON 1-18

By Denis Hurley at Pairc Ui Chaoimh

Cork captain Séamus Harnedy scored 1-6 and Paudie O’Sullivan notched 2-1 as Imokilly retained the Cork SHC at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday.

The East Cork divisional side, with 12 club sides represented on the field, matched their achievement of 20 years ago as they led all through and displayed a greater ability to take goal chances than the Magpies, who will now seek to regroup for the Munster club championship.

Imokilly had the perfect start inside three minutes. When midfielder Mark O’Keeffe launched a delivery goalwards, the Midleton defence couldn’t deal with it and Paudie O’Sullivan was able to nip in and slot the ball past Tommy Wallace in goal.

While Luke O’Farrell got the Magpies off the mark in response, three Imokilly points – two from midfielder Bill Cooper with O’Sullivan also on target – had them firmly in control and they remained so for the rest of the first quarter.

They had moved 1-6 to 0-4 in front following god points from Séamus Harnedy and William Leahy, but Midleton began to get going. Luke O’Farrell pointed after intercepting a loose clearance and then he set up Cormac Walsh before Conor Lehane sent over his third point, a free from his own 65.

However, the good work of that trio of points was undone in the 20th minute as Brian Lawton’s ball in was won well by Harnedy, who slipped Seán O’Leary Hayes before firing home to establish a five-point lead.

That had stretched to six by the 25th minute as William Leahy’s second point made it 2-9 to 0-9 but Midleton got a boost as half-time approached. O’Leary Hayes arced a perfect pass to Patrick White inside and he was able to get past Michael Russell before finishing smartly to the Imokilly net.

The divisional side responded well again though as Harnedy added two points before the break to give himself a personal first-half tally of 1-4 and leave his side 2-11 to 1-9 in front at the break.

Midleton began the second half well. They had four of the first five points as Lehane’s two frees were augmented by scores from Cormac Walsh and Luke O’Farrell, with the latter having sight of goal too, but losing possession under pressure.

In contrast, Imokilly were ruthless when they had a chance of finding the net and a third goal came in the 40th minute. When Cooper found Leahy with a nice pass, he in turn transferred the ball to O’Sullivan with a lovely touch and the former Cork man did the rest.

Harnedy’s fifth point followed and the game was effectively made safe on 43 as Brian Lawton set up Shane Hegarty for the fourth goal. From there, it was only a question of how much they would win by.

There was one disappointing late note as captain Harnedy suffered an injury in added time, but he was able to walk off the field and collect the cup afterwards.

Scorers for Imokilly: Séamus Harnedy 1-6, Paudie O’Sullivan 2-1, William Leahy (2fs, 165) 0-5, Bill Cooper 0-4, Shane Hegarty 1-1, Barry Lawton, Declan Dalton 0-1 each.

Scorers for Midleton: Conor Lehane 0-7 (6fs), Cormac Walsh 0-4, Patrick White 1-1, Luke O’Farrell 0-3, Paul Haughney, Cormac Beausang, Seán O’Meara 0-1 each.

IMOKILLY: Dara O’Callaghan (Watergrasshill); Michael Russell (Aghada), Colm Barry (Castlelyons), Colm Spillane (Castlelyons); Ciarán O’Brien (St Ita’s), Niall O’Leary (Castlelyons), John Cronin (Lisgoold); Bill Cooper (Youghal), Mark O’Keeffe (Fr O’Neills); Brian Lawton (Castlemartyr), Séamus Harnedy (St Ita’s), Shane Hegarty (Dungourney); William Leahy (Aghada), Paudie O’Sullivan (Cloyne), Barry Lawton (Castlemartyr).

Subs: Ger Millerick (Fr O’Neills) for O’Keeffe (48), Declan Dalton (Fr O’Neills) for Barry Lawton (52), Daniel Mangan (St Catherine’s) for Harnedy (60).

MIDLETON: Tommy Wallace; Eoghan Moloney, Finbarr O’Mahoney, Séadnaidh Smyth; Luke Dineen, Seán O’Leary Hayes, James Nagle; Paul Haughney, Séamus O’Farrell; Luke O’Farrell, Cormac Walsh, Cormac Beausang; Seán O’Meara, Conor Lehane, Patrick White.

Subs: Pádraig Nagle for O’Meara (half-time), Tommy O’Connell for White (43), Ross O’Regan for O’Mahoney (45).

REFEREE: Diarmuid Kirwan (Éire Óg).